


A Choice Between You and the Giant Squid

by over_reacting_by_default



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders, Multi, Slow Burn, Starts First Year, first wizarding war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-09-17 01:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16965192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/over_reacting_by_default/pseuds/over_reacting_by_default
Summary: The story of Lily Evans' and the Marauders' time at Hogwarts and as members of the Order of the Phoenix all the way up until the start of Philosopher's Stone. Only major character death is canonical. Eventually this will be Jily and Wolfstar but it's since the story is starting in their first year it will take a while. Also large-ish focus on the First Wizarding War with Voldemort. Disclaimer: None of the characters etc belong to me. All rights to the wonderful J.K.R. Ratings and Warnings may change as the story progresses.





	1. 1. Prologue

1\. Prologue

 

Cokeworth was a small industrial town in the English midlands best described as grimy. The ugly factories that dominated the skyline spewed out thick black smoke all day long and a thin layer of dust covered most every surface of the town.

Spinner’s End was one such street but from there it was only a short walk to the park where laughter echoed from the swings all summer long. From there one could cross over a mostly clean river still gurgling over shallow rocks where mallards paddled and fish darted among the reeds. After the bridge it was only a few metres along a grassy verge until you hit the nicer roads; lanes of pretty cottages where lawns were still mown and you could see out the windows. At Spinner’s End you could hardly see where one house ended and another began.

But now it was only two corners and you rounded onto Forget-Me-Not Way. Then it would not be hard to find the shining brass of number 7, carefully nailed to a freshly painted door. Vines and creepers crawled up red bricks and below the windows bloomed a wild assortment of flowers of every colour and variety imaginable. Carelessly piled in the garden lay two small bikes, wheels still spinning as they were quickly abandoned with shouts of joy in search of freshly-baked cookies.

All in all, No.7 Forget-Me-Not Way was the idyllic childhood home. And so it was for our young heroine, Lily Evans. But just as her life began there and this story as well, sadly it is also where the pure innocence of her childhood began to end. ~~~~


	2. 2. The Letters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I will try to update this story weekly.

It was the 21st of July 1971 when an old man with long silvery hair and brilliant blue eyes shook back the sleeve of his most unusual clothing and knocked on the door of No.7 Forget-Me-Not Way. In no haste at all he stepped back and hummed quietly to himself, breathing in the fragrant scent of numerous flowerbeds as he waited patiently for the door to open.

…

“Lily! Go and see who’s at the door,” her mum hollered, “there’s flour all over me, my hands and the rest of the kitchen!”

“Ok!” Lily left her book on the sofa and skipped down the hall, long red hair flying wildly behind her. She opened the door, “Hello. Are you looking for my mum?”

In front of her stood a very old man in very odd clothing but eyes full of mirth twinkled at her from behind half-moon glasses, “That depends, are you Miss Lily Evans?”

“How do you know my name?” she wondered.

He handed her a letter of thick yellow-ish paper with green writing on the front and, unusually, a large wax seal on the back, “This is for you. Go on, read it if you like.”

Lily tore open the envelope and read the contents greedily. It was a letter from Hogwarts! Of course, Sev had told her that she would be getting one, like him, and she’d been waiting for it all week but until this moment part of her had believed it was all just a joke, that obviously there could be no such thing as magic, like Petunia said. But now she knew it was true.

She peered curiously at the wizard(?) in front of her, “Are… are you Professor Dumbledore?”

He smiled, “Why yes I am Lily. Now how did you know _my_ name?”

“My friend Sev told me about you. He told me lots of things about the magical world. I don’t think I really completely believed him until now though…”

Dumbledore reached into his pocket and drew out several small paper bags, “Sev… short for Severus I presume. He must be the young wizard who lives a few streets away. Now let’s see… I have pear drops, sherbet lemons and toffees. Would you like one?” he offered her the bags.

While he unstuck two pear drops from each other Lily picked out a sherbet lemon and nodded eagerly, “Thank you! Yes, Sev is one of my best friends.”

Then Lily’s mum came to the door, stopping and staring in surprise at Dumbledore’s strange attire. She rested a hand on her young daughter’s shoulder, “Lily dear, care to introduce me to your friend?”

He saved her however from needing to explain by quickly stepping forwards and offering his hand to shake, “Mrs Evans, my name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Your daughter has a very special talent and if you choose to accept is offered a place at my school.”

Lily looked up at her mum who seemed very confused, “I don’t understand. Lily has already enrolled at Cokeworth Secondary School where her sister Petunia goes.”

“Yes of course,” Dumbledore nodded in understanding, “but that can all be taken care of if she would like to go to Hogwarts instead… usually a ministry official explains and sorts these things out but at the moment the ministry… has few people to spare so I am here. Perhaps I should explain better…”

Lily was almost bouncing up and down in excitement, she hadn’t told her parents yet about magic being real but now there would be no more secrets and she could go learn to fly and cast spells! She could hardly wait for her mum to understand.

“…you see, Mrs Evans, I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…”

…

Severus sat with his back against the closed door to his room. He picked at the fraying cuff of his overly large coat and tipped his head back to stare at the damp ceiling groaning in frustration and disappointment. Though you might not believe it, Severus had been even more excited about going to Hogwarts than Lily. Hogwarts to him meant more than just adventure; it meant freedom. There he could be himself, be with Lily and do whatever he wanted without worrying about mean kids bullying him for being different or his parents yelling at each other around the clock.

The owl had arrived this morning and his mum had been brimming with excitement along side him which was a rare occurrence these days. But then of course his father had trudged down the stairs for breakfast, seen the letter and insisted he wouldn’t be allowed to go.

So now Severus was in his room wishing beyond hope that his mum would win the fighting match just this once.

“TOBIAS! He’s a _WIZARD_. He _has_ to go to Hogwarts. There’s no way you can stop him.”

“Oh yeah?! Well I think that if I say the boy’s NOT going then he’s NOT going. Do you understand me?”

“But it means _so_ much to him…”

“Well it means _NOTHING_ to me. If I’d known you were a witch before I married you Eileen I NEVER would have.”

And so the argument went on. He could hear every word through the paper-thin walls of shadowy Spinner’s End with no way to block them out.

His mum rarely stood up for him like this, though it was a poor job she was doing now. Truthfully Severus wondered if she was doing this for him or because if he went off to Hogwarts there would be more food for the two of them to eat. There was never any money to spare, he wondered if he should point that out to his dad.

He knew he’d get to go in the end, he didn’t doubt that, just wished his parents would acknowledge his existence as his own self once in a while. A lone tear escaped his eye as he roughly pushed his lank hair back. As long as he and Lily were together – preferably in Slytherin – everything would be ok.

…

James Potter knew he lived a very lucky life. He relished in and appreciated this fact. Of course, he knew others weren’t as lucky as him and he’d help them if he could but that wasn’t yet as important to him as other things, such as getting a new broom to play Quidditch on.

Being the only child of a wealthy couple who’d once believed they’d never have a child of their own he wanted for nothing, was spoiled at all times of the day and was adored by all.

So when the Hogwarts owl soared in through the kitchen window of the Potter’s mansion and narrowly missed upsetting his bowl of cereal James’ first thoughts were of the new friends he’d make and impress, whether or not he’d be top of the class and if it would be possible to make the house Quidditch team on a school broom or if he could sneak his own in.

Growing up in the middle of nowhere could be lonely and though he knew a few other witches and wizards his age, he didn’t know any very well. Certainly, he worried about making friends the most, not really knowing how to do that, which was obviously dumb because there was nothing that he’d tried before that he couldn’t do. So he’d take his mum’s advice and start by being kind.

All thoughts of challenges that lay ahead however were forgotten when his dad, Fleamont, suggested around a mouthful of bacon that the next day they would go to Diagon Alley to buy his new books and robes… and maybe even – James hoped – a new broomstick.

“YES! Diagon Alley tomorrow and the Hogwarts Express in September. I can’t wait. Gryffindor here I come! Hogwarts had better watch out!” he yelled joyfully.

“You’d better watch out young man,” warned his mum, Euphemia, “be careful to make sure you don’t brag too much and not to make any enemies. And don’t talk while you’re eating!”

“Yes mum.”

…

Sirius had always thought during the eleven miserable years of his existence that there could be no house more dismal to grow up in than No.12 Grimmauld Place. Walking down the grand stairs, past the severed heads of old house elves and into the stately drawing room, he could see no evidence that might prove otherwise.

Kreacher poked him roughly in the back, “Hurry up now Master Sirius. Don’t keep the Mistress waiting, she’s most impatient this morning.”

Sirius sighed, he had no idea what he’d done this time but when he glanced back uncertainly at his little brother Regulus trailing behind, he got only an amused smirk in return.

Nothing looked good about this situation, if Regulus looked happy then Sirius could only be in trouble. He still winced every time he thought about the beating he’d received last week for stealing a slice of pie from the pantry after he’d been sent to bed without supper. And he’d only been sent to bed early because Regulus had blackmailed him into pretending it was him who’d gotten mud tracked down the hall and into the kitchen. He’d had no choice, otherwise Regulus would have snitched, telling their parents that Sirius had sneaked out to play with some muggle kids from down the road. The punishment for that would have been even worse.

“Don’t stop moving now! They’re in the drawing room,” another poke.

Regulus and Kreacher. Both, he swore, sent by Merlin’s evil twin to spy on him for his mother.

“Ah Sirius,” Orion Black was standing by the fireplace, “glad you _finally_ got here. A letter arrived for you today. Do you know where it is from?”

“No father,” he replied nervously.

“It’s your Hogwarts acceptance letter!” Walburga shrieked with joy(?), “Sirius, I can’t tell you just how pleased I am that you’re not a lowly squib after all, such shame you would have brought on all the family. It would’ve been as awful as if a Black chose to marry a filthy mudblood instead of one of superior status such as ourselves.”

“Yes mother,” he’d always known he was magical, never once thought he was a squib but still it would be nice that was one less name his parents would call him. They’d been suspicious ever since he was about six years old but that was just because he’d learnt to control his magic early. Not suppress, but control – any accident that leads to a black eye, bruised ribs and an almost broken nose at that age by the hands of your own father tends to teach you that.

He’d also learnt to control his tongue around that age too. If you’re a Black you _just don’t_ mention – or preferably even think – that muggles are ok. But at least it was just his Hogwarts letter, nothing he could be in trouble about and once he was at school he could at least have his own opinions.

“Just so long as he makes Slytherin,” Orion cautioned sternly, “as long as he makes Slytherin everything will be fine.

Walburga nodded in agreement.

That was another thing about being a Black that Sirius disliked, you had to be in Slytherin or there’d be hell to pay. And the talking as if he wasn’t even there, yeah, his parents did that a lot too. But it was safest just to agree so he muttered, “Ok.”

“What was that boy?” his father demanded angrily, taking a threatening step forward.

Sirius flinched but met his eyes for the first time since he’d come into the room, “Yes sir.”

“Very good. Go now. Kreacher will fetch you for supper.”

…

Remus hardly knew what was happening. One minute the doorbell rang – which was unusual enough because none of their new neighbours were very friendly and all of their old friends lived hours away because they weren’t connected to the Floo Network here. Five minutes later he was sitting opposite the headmaster of Hogwarts (really?), eating toasted crumpets and playing Gobstones with him. And to top all of that off, he might be able to go to Hogwarts!

“Are you really Professor Dumbledore?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes Remus, I am,” Dumbledore chuckled.

“And will I really be able to go to Hogwarts?” he believed that even less.

“I think so yes,” he confirmed.

“Really! Oh, thank you sir!” but just then a gobstone squirted him in the eye with slime and he started with surprise. The sudden movement caused some of the deeper scratches from last week’s full moon to re-open and he winced.

“Are you alright Remus?” asked Dumbledore, concerned.

He nodded, embarrassed. Normally he was shy and very quiet unlike a moment ago, and the unexpected pain dampened his excitement. He was reminded of the huge risk that going to Hogwarts would be.

Half an hour later Dumbledore was almost ready to leave. He’d discussed with Remus’ parents some ideas about his safety on the full moon – none of which thankfully included the Forbidden Forest – while Remus had sat and listened.

Then Dumbledore turned to him, “It will of course be up to you whether or not you wish to tell any friends you make of your condition. I’m sure I, at least, will support you if do choose to do so for secrets such as these are a heavy burden to bear alone. Be careful though, I’m know you’re aware of the many common prejudices against werewolves but you must be sure you completely trust any confidantes. Do you understand?”

Remus nodded vigorously, “Yes Professor, I understand.”

He would worry about his monthly transformations later, for now though he would revel in the fact that he could go to school and learn!


	3. 3. The Sorting

Lily gazed up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall in awe; she had never seen so many stars before. The entire journey to Hogwarts had been incredible although walking through a brick wall was scary at first. Then there were the Chocolate Frogs – that actually hopped around! – on the train and now there were candles floating just above her head! There was magic everywhere and it was a bit intimidating.

But she and Sev were off on this big adventure they’d been dreaming off the past year since they’d met and she couldn’t wait. Of course, it hadn’t started out perfectly, Lily roughly swiped away a tear with the back of her hand as she remembered the fight she’d had with Petunia on the platform. She’d never meant to hurt her but she _wasn’t_ a freak. She wasn’t! She could hardly believe that Petunia really thought that but then she knew Petunia had called Sev a freak before too so she wasn’t really that surprised. Just upset and confused about how to put this right. Lily loved her sister but she wasn’t so sure how much Petunia loved her.

Then Professor McGonagall placed a raggedy old hat on a stool and began to explain how the sorting would work. What she didn’t mention was that the hat would break out into song first.

_Hogwarts magic school_   
_Built a thousand years ago,_   
_By four great sorcerers of the time_   
_To teach us all they know._   
_First comes sly Slytherin!_   
_Followed by brave Gryffindor!_   
_Kind Hufflepuff is the next!_   
_The last of course smart Ravenclaw!_   
_And I am Godric’s Sorting Hat,_   
_I’ll sort out where you go._   
_Which House is the best for you_   
_But that’s not all I know._   
_Be proud of each your Houses,_   
_Do for them all you can_   
_But beware the divides that Sorting_   
_Creates between man and man._   
_So to each of you sitting here tonight_   
_Your choices are your own,_   
_Your fate lies in your own two hands_   
_Yet the future remains unknown._   
_So protect your friends_   
_And beware the dark._   
_Careful at every turn_   
_But for now we’re safe at Hogwarts,_   
_Where the Sorting will shortly start!_

The Great Hall burst into applause when the Hat finished and Lily joined in, though she did see some of the teachers nodded along gravely with what seemed like a warning from the Hat. She couldn’t bring herself to think on it to long though because Professor McGonagall had pulled out a thick scroll of parchment and was starting to call out names to come and put the hat on.

“Abbott, William.”

“HUFFLEPUFF” the hat announced to lots of cheering from that table.

Lily missed the next name but then, “Black, Sirius.”

“GRYFFINDOR!” but while three houses cheered, she noticed that the Slytherin table had fallen strangely silent. Sirius smiled defiantly at first but then she saw his face go very pale.

“Bones, Edgar.”

“RAVENCLAW!”

And then a couple names later, “Evans, Lily.”

She sat hesitantly on the stool and waited for the hat to be placed on her head but no sooner had she heard a quick whisper in her ear (“Oh well there’s really no choice at all here, is there?”) that made her jump, the hat yelled, “GRYFFINDOR!”

Lily hurried to the table and sat next to the boy Sirius. She recognised him as one of the boys on the train from the first compartment she and Sev had sat in. He hadn’t been very nice then but she remembered her mum saying to give everyone a fair chance so she introduced herself. Then she remembered Sev. She doubted he’d want to be in Gryffindor just for her, even if she was secretly glad she wasn’t in Slytherin. She caught his eye across the room from where he stood still waiting to be sorted and gave him a half smile as he stared sadly back.

Suddenly almost all the new first years had been sorted and there were several more girls and boys at the Gryffindor table. Then she heard the call for, “Snape, Severus.”

“SLYTHERIN!”

Her heart sank, disappointed, but at least they would still have some lessons together, even if that other rude boy from the train, James Potter, was also in Gryffindor. Sev was her guide in the magical world and she couldn’t really see what difference the houses would make, nothing could come between their friendship.

…

Severus barely heard the cheers as he walked numbly to his table. How could he and Lily possibly be in different houses? Surely there must be a mistake. He glared up at the various teachers sitting at their table, why couldn’t they have interfered and put it right? It was only a dumb hat after all.

Knowing what he did of the magical world and Hogwarts, Severus had always had a natural instinct that he’d be in Slytherin. There’d never been any question of that so Lily would just have to move houses. He didn’t know how he’d survive without his best friend by his side.

But deep down he knew that Lily would never have been sorted into Slytherin and while he wished it otherwise he knew this was right. Resigned to the inevitable Severus decided he would have to try and make some more friends. Digging into the feast along with the rest of school, he looked up and down the table about to strike up conversation with another first year when a ghost squeezed in between the two, forcing them apart.

The sensation of being touched by the ghost caused him to shudder so much, he hardly even noticed the alarming ectoplasmic stains of blood covering much of his clothes. Looking up to the ceiling, Severus saw many more of the resident Hogwarts ghosts swoop around overhead. They called out happily to the students and surrounded by magic as he was, he couldn’t help but have his mood lifted a little.

…

James was just reaching for the last slice of treacle tart when a small freckled hand snatched it from beneath his nose, “Hey!” he complained, looking around for the thief. His eyes landed upon the red-headed girl from the train who was friends with that greasy haired boy who was now in Slytherin.

She met his eyes at his outburst and stared back defiantly, daring him to protest further. He couldn’t help but grinning in response and also unable to back down from her obvious challenge, continued, “That slice was mine.”

“Sorry,” she shrugged. She didn’t sound very sorry. She took a bite and smiled to herself, clearly enjoying the delicious dessert.

James almost chose to let it go but he noticed that she was very pretty. Her eyes were a brilliant, sparkling green and… ‘ugh!’ he thought, what was he thinking? Girls weren’t pretty or anything. At best they left you alone and at worst they were whiny and pathetic. Still, he reasoned, none of those things applied to the girl sitting across from him and he very much wanted to keep talking to her, “So, um… what’s your name?” he started simple.

“Lily Evans,” she replied, still savouring her – no _his_ – treacle tart, “What’s yours?”

“James Potter,” he replied, “You were in our compartment at the start of the train journey, weren’t you?”

“Yes. You weren’t very nice to Sev though.”

“He weren’t very nice to me either,” he retorted quickly.

“I suppose,” she admitted.

“Say Lily, I don’t suppose you’d give me a bite of your treacle tart, would you? Since you stole the last piece and all?”

Lily hesitated, staring at him suspiciously, “Just a bite,” she warned. Using the side of her fork she carefully cut a small bite from the rest of the larger slice and held her plate up, offering it to him.

He couldn’t help but tease a bit and allowed his fork to hover over the bigger bit, her bit, as if he were going to take that instead. However, the moment he did she quickly yanked her plate away, almost yelling, “Oi, Potter! That’s my bit. I said you could have a bite, _not_ the rest of my pudding!”

But as she’d yanked the plate away, both pieces of tart went flying through the air, hitting Sirius as they went. Lily glared at James, visibly blaming him for the loss of her pudding, “You… you just… my tre… how dar…” she shut her mouth, speechless with rage.

James put his hands in the air in mock surrender and grinned, “Alright Evans? What’s wrong? I didn’t do nothing.”

Just then one of pieces of tart came flying back at him, hitting him square in the face. He spluttered indignantly and saw Sirius smirking from his place next to Lily, “Never assume you can throw food at people without expecting retaliation.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” James assured him and picking up a roast potato, lobbed it back in the direction of the black-haired boy.

The situation quickly devolved into a fully-fledged food fight with vegetables, roast chicken legs and even a few cupcakes flying everywhere. A couple other new Gryffindor boys – a tall boy with shabby robes and a thin scar running down one side of his face and a small plump boy whose feet, James doubted, even reached the floor from where he sat on the bench – had also joined in after being accidental victims to James and Sirius’ first few shots.

At some point during the melee James noticed Lily rolling her eyes and turning to talk to the girl sitting on her other side but he was quickly distracted again by Sirius flicking peas at him, one at a time, with his fork.

The fight didn’t end until Professor Dumbledore’s magically magnified voice rung out across the Great Hall, calling for silence and attention from all the young witches and wizards.

“To our new students, welcome. And to our old students welcome back. Now that we are satisfyingly full with delicious food, I have a few announcements before we all have a deep sleep to prepare ourselves for lessons tomorrow.”

He paused, surveying the attentive pupils and continued, “To start, all first-year students should know that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds at all times, as is the wizarding village of Hogsmeade to any student under the third year.”

“And now please join me in welcoming our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dreadnought,” there was a short applause as the teacher briefly stood and took a short bow, “and finally, our caretaker Mr Filch has asked me to remind you all that all magic is banned in corridors and the list of banned items, which can be viewed in full on the door of his office, has now reached the grand total of 659 as Trailing Trip-Wires and Dancing Door-Stoppers have been added.”

“Well it’s getting late so off to bed with the lot of you! Cheerio then, hurry up now and lights out soon! I expect you down here all bright eyes and cheery smiles in the morning, eager for the learning to begin!”

Dumbledore waved them out of the hall and James wearily followed a prefect up the moving stairs and behind a painting to the Gryffindor common room and dorms. Waving goodnight to Lily, he and Sirius began the ascent of a small spiral staircase before collapsing onto adjacent beds. They quickly fell asleep without even changing their clothes – exhausted from the long train ride and food fight.


	4. Magic School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates. Chapters should be updated weekly from now on again. Enjoy! :)

Early the next morning, Lily sat on her bed in the dorm she shared with the four other first-year girls in Gryffindor. She was already dressed in the new house specific uniform that was provided but she didn’t want to go down to breakfast alone so she was waiting for the others.

As Lily waited, she stroked the purring cat stretched out in front of her as she studied the timetable she’d found on her bedside-table. She’d kind of wanted to get an owl but Petunia had freaked at the idea so she had a cat instead. None of the lessons on she timetable were anything like the ones in normal schools.

“Hey Lily, you ready to go?”

She looked up at Marlene distractedly, “Huh?”

“Stop staring at your timetable and come get some breakfast,” Marlene elaborated impatiently.

Lily quickly shoved the timetable back into her bag and jumped up, unfortunately also disturbing her now very disgruntled cat in the process, “Coming.”

…

On the way down to the Great Hall the five young girls almost got lost at every corner; the corridors of Hogwarts were endless until they split into at least seven directions all at once. They reached the staircases quickly but soon found that each of the 142 separate stairs had a mind of its own, moving without warning and making it impossible to navigate their way down to breakfast.

…

The Gryffindors shared Herbology, the first class of the day, with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Kale started with instructions about always wearing their protective gloves and staying out of reach of the Venomous Tentacula before they all opened their copies of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi to page 3.

Lily stared at the moving illustration of the Bouncing Beans they were going to pick, “The picture’s moving,” she whispered in awe.

Dorcas laughed quietly at her, “All pictures move in the wizarding world. Didn’t you notice the portraits in the castle? They’ve all been smiling and waving at us?”

“No. I was concentrating on the stairs swinging about at random and the doors that weren’t actually doors.”

Then Sirius Black leaned across the table towards them, “Paintings and photos don’t move in the muggle world? That’s so cool!”

“Really,” Potter butted into their conversation, “seems rather boring to me.”

Lily ignored him and focused on Professor Kale explaining how to open the bean pods.

…

The last lesson of the day was Charms, which was also with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Flitwick looked hardly taller than 4ft, not including the large pile of heavy-looking leather-bound books he was teetering rather dangerously on top of as he addressed the class. Lily carefully copied down all the notes on wand movements from the blackboard where the chalk was writing by itself.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the lesson, Professor Flitwick decided they were ready to try a simple charm. She still found it hard to believe that a flick of her wrist and one word would light up the end of her wand. Still, Mr. Ollivander in Diagon Alley had said that her long willow wand would be good for charm work.

Lily could hardly sit still with excitement, she was about to cast her very first spell.

…

Lily sat with Sev the next day in Potions. Professor Slughorn had them making a Wart-Vanishing potion. It was very easy, already half the way through the lesson and they were way ahead of everyone else even as they exchanged stories of the first day.

Soon all of ingredients were added and the potion only needed to simmer for another couple minutes while she steadily stirred it in a clockwise direction. Sev had kindly offered to tidy away the spare ingredients.

Lily was reading the more detailed explanations of the reactions within the potion at the bottom of the textbook’s page as she stirred and was suddenly struck by inspiration. But just as she moved to stir once anti-clockwise, Sev grabbed her wrist, “What are you doing?” he asked panicked, “we don’t want this to explode or melt the cauldron.”

Marlene had already told Lily she took too many notes in class but if Lily was hard-working and wanted good grades then Severus was obsessed. Knowing this she gently shook off his grip, pointed to the page and explained, “All the ingredients have been added and have neutralised each other so it’s basically ready and nothing else will happen but it’s meant to be a matt green. You see where the surface is still shimmering?... that’s the ground mermaid scales which is only needed to take the sting out for when you use it. But it’s not properly mixed through yet. Stirring it in the same direction is just making it into a pretty spiral…”

“… but if you stir it the other way then it will be forced to mix in and dissolve. Brilliant!” Sev finished for her.

“Exactly,” she giggled while finally adding the extra stir anti-clockwise, “no need to stick exactly to the rules but I guess that’s just the magic you’ve been taught already.”

“No,” he argued, “my mum hardly sticks to most magical rules and conventions. It’s just that she doesn’t adjust what she already knows, she creates stuff completely new from scratch.”

Just then Professor Slughorn waddled over to see how they were getting on and bent his balding head over their cauldron. He smiled warmly at the pair, “Well this is just marvellous. Perfectly brewed and with time to spare. 10 points apiece to Gryffindor and Slytherin.”

Lily and Sev grinned at each other while the Professor boomed at the rest of the class who were huddled in small groups around potions either producing copious amounts of black smoke or smelling like rotten eggs, “Good effort everyone. Now please puts out all the fires and come take a look at this potion here, which is what you were all aiming for. And while I have your attention, homework is half a piece of parchment on the properties of all the ingredients you have used today, due in next week. And for those of you who succeeded in melting your cauldrons, another half side on different ways that can happen and how to avoid it. Class is dismissed.”

As Lily filed out of the door she saw Professor Slughorn clap a hand on Potter’s shoulder, “Better luck next time m’ boy. I’m sure your father’s talent is in there somewhere.”

He and his friends had been the ones to melt the cauldron, in fact Potter’s face was still quite red although Black only looked bored. Remus Lupin looked mildly irritated and Peter Pettigrew had been staring at something fascinating on the floor ever since the accident ten minutes into the lesson.

Lily hurried up the dungeon stairs and looked questioningly at Marlene, confused about Slughorn’s comment to Potter.

“James’ dad invented the Sleakeazy’s Hair Potion which pretty much doubled the family’s fortune,” she explained.

…

Despite having the first double free on Wednesday, all of the first year Gryffindors were very tired because Astronomy had been at midnight the night before, during which Potter had folded his constellation chart into a paper airplane and hit Lily directly in the ear with it.

Now though, Lily was sat with Mary in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Marlene and Dorcas were sat immediately behind them and to Lily’s left Alice was paired up with Frank Longbottom, the fifth occupant of the boy’s dormitory. DADA was the only lesson other than Astronomy that they didn’t share with any of the other houses.

Their Professor apparently was a retired Auror – a dark wizard fighter according to Sev – who appeared to hate retirement and teaching and wanted to go back to risking his life every other day. At the moment however, he was lecturing them on the power and different kinds of wand magic: charms, jinxes, hexes, spells and curses.

At the end of the lesson he promised they would start practising a couple of jinxes the next day and Lily swore that Alice was so excited she would stand up on her chair and do a happy dance.

…

The final lesson of Thursday was Flying. Lily couldn’t wait to finally climb on a broom and zoom over the Forbidden Forest or slalom around the Hogwarts towers and turrets. She just hoped today wouldn’t be cancelled like most of Tuesday’s lesson was after the disaster of Sirius Black hopping on a broom, rising three metres into the air and then dramatically sliding off the front and falling to the ground after trying to dive back down. He’d landed on his head and concussed himself.

After Mr. Boeing gave them the go ahead, she stepped up to the old wonky broomstick and said “UP!”

Lily was shocked that it worked. She’d been worried nothing would happen but the broom was in her hand and she was one of the only seven people who’d succeeded. Marlene also had a broom in her hand as well as Frank, Potter (although his broom looked suspiciously shiny and straight) and a couple of Slytherins she didn’t know.

Sev, standing to her right was glaring at the broom that had hardly even twitched on the ground beside him.

…

Flying was even more amazing than she expected it to be! Lily doubted she was particularly graceful but the wind in her face, whipping her hair around, and the sensation of weightlessness was so exhilarating she didn’t care.

They had to stay above the grass between this side of the castle and lake – that was where Mr. Boeing had cast the cushioning spell if any of them fell – and not fly any higher than ten metres or so but she hardly noticed the constraints. It felt so good to know that once again being a muggle-born didn’t put her behind in lessons, especially since flying was easily one of the things she’d been most excited about since Sev told her about Hogwarts. She wondered what Quidditch was like.

Of course, not all the students were finding it as easy to control their brooms. Poor Peter Pettigrew was wobbling along with barely an inch between his toes and the grass! And Sirius still had both feet planted firmly on the ground, broomstick abandoned by his side. He was stood in front of the flying teacher passionately explaining with lots of animated gestures exactly why he shouldn’t have to fly ever again. Lily doubted he’d stopped talking for ten minutes straight by now and Mr. Boeing looked as unimpressed as he did at the start.

Then Potter pulled up along side her and she was distracted, “Alright Evans?”

She looked at him askance, wondering what he wanted. Why oh why did he have to be the best at flying? He’d been bragging about it all week and she’d wished that he’d be proved wrong. Unfortunately, though, it seemed as if he did have some skill and talent to brag about.

“You’re really good you know? Considering this is the first time you’ve ever flown. Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team?”

“Why thank you ‘One and Only Supreme Expert on all Things Quidditch’ I’m not quite certain I’d figured out myself that I don’t completely suck yet. It’s so great to have your coveted approval. But no, I don’t think I’ll try out. After all I’ve heard of your wonderful talents, I’m sure I stand no chance, she retorted.

Potter gaped at her, “I… um, er… you know, that’s really not fair. I was just trying to be nice. And I’ve grown up a wizard, I probably do know more about Quidditch than you.”

“But not everyone in our year. Besides I know enough, and I would hope for your sake that your head isn’t used as a Quaffle in the first match, but then again it would be rather entertaining.”

“Why in Merlin’s name would my head be used as a Quaffle?”

“Because you’re an egotistical prat and one day very soon your big spoilt head is going to become so inflated with ridiculous lies that only you could ever believe that it’s just going to detach itself from your scrawny body and float off into space where it’s never going to be seen or heard from again!”

Lily didn’t know why Potter got on her nerves so much but he did and maybe she shouldn’t get so irritated but it’s not like anything she just said wasn’t true. He was gaping at her again, ok maybe she felt a bit bad.

Suddenly he looked away and flew off angrily without saying a word. She paused and watched him go. Then she wished she hadn’t because he did a loop-the-loop that turned him upside down before he stopped without warning and span around. He shot towards her like a bullet, clipping the tail of her and Sev’s – who’d been following at a more cautious pace – brooms with his as he went, spinning them both out of control.

…

After dinner, Lily and Sev trudged up to the library to get started on their increasing pile of homework. There didn’t seem to many places in the castle where a Gryffindor and a Slytherin could hang out but the library was one of them.

As they went, they complained about Potter and the earlier incident during Flying.

“I mean what I said was a bit unfair, and he actually is good at flying,” she reasoned, feeling a bit guilty.

“Don’t make excuses for him Lily. He’s a jerk and crashing into us like that is really dangerous. Besides, maybe he is good at flying but that doesn’t mean he’s good at all the other stuff he brags about,” Sev was adamant.

Lily nodded agreeing.

“And seriously, who cares how many bathrooms there are in his house?!” he continued.

She giggled. Sev always knew how to make her feel better and soon they’d be hidden among the never-ending rows and rows and rows of books filled with fascinating magic she’d never dreamed existed.

…

Transfiguration was James’ favourite subject, after flying of course. Both were easy, maybe he just had a knack for McGonagall’s subject where he had a humiliatingly apparent lack of skill in Potions, which Slughorn was obviously disappointed about. He desperately hoped his father wouldn’t hear about that before he had a chance to redeem himself.

“Potter.”

“Potter.”

“James Potter! You will answer me this instant!”

He blinked rapidly, daydream forgotten, and stared up at easily the strictest teacher in the school, “Yes Professor?”

“Why aren’t you turning your matchstick into a needle, Mr. Potter?” Professor McGonagall pressed.

“Because I could do that on two days ago Professor,” he explained, “it’s too easy and boring now.”

“Very well. You can go and help the other students who are struggling and on Monday I expect you to be paying full attention to the next spell we are learning. You may have a good grasp of the practical part of this class but your explanation of the theory in your notes here _(she pointed at the parchment on his desk)_ is abysmal.”

“Yes, Professor McGonagall,” he agreed.

The moment she turned her back he thwacked a sniggering Sirius on the arm with said notes.

“Ouch! What was that for?” he exclaimed indignantly.

“You were laughing at me!” James accused.

“Yeah. So…”

“Mr. Potter and Mr. Black,” McGonagall called from the front, “kindly stop disrupting the rest of the class.

James turned to Remus despairingly, “Do I have to help people? I mean, who do I even help? You lot basically have the hang of it now, even Peter, and the rest of the class are Ravenclaws!”

“What about the girls?” asked Remus, pointing to Marlene who was muttering under her breath as the matchstick stubbornly remained a matchstick.

“Yeah ok.”

…

“Alright Evans?” James asked cheerily as he swung himself into the seat opposite her. He’d decided to forget about the argument they’d had yesterday.

“What do you want Potter?”

“Well, now you mention it, what I really want is…” he trailed off as he noticed her exasperated expression. He sighed, “McGonagall told me to help anyone who was finding the spell hard and I thought you might want a few pointers.”

“No thanks,” Lily shook her head, “I’ve almost got the hang of it.”

“Really? ‘Cause to me it looks like you’re moving your wand too fast. You have to really focus on what you want each part of the matchstick to look like when it’s a needle. See?”

James waved his wand and said the spell, “Acus.” Lily’s matchstick transfigured immediately.

He looked up pleased to find the fiery redhead glaring at him.

“What have I done now?” he asked nervously.

“You remember what we talked about yesterday?”

He nodded.

“Then why are you still insisting on showing off exactly how good you are at everything? I don’t want to know!”

“I was just trying to help,” James defended himself, “I wasn’t meaning to brag. But maybe in the future I won’t bother.”

“Good. Don’t.”

“I’d say ‘see ya round, Evans’ but I’m not sure I want to,” he went back to his place besides Sirius as quickly as possible.

…

He ignored the prods in his shoulder until they started getting painful, “What Sirius?”

Sirius grinned unapologetically as James rubbed his arm, “First please turn your death glare back to the desk. I don’t fancy being scorched to a crisp today. And second, what in the name of Merlin’s saggy left… _(he stopped, glanced at McGonagall and seemingly decided it wasn’t worth finishing that thought aloud)_ was that?”

He stared blankly, “What was what?”

“What was that with Evans?”

James explained quietly, finishing with, “I don’t even know half the words she used! I mean what first-year knows what ‘coveted’ and ‘egotistical’ mean?”

“I know,” said Remus affronted.

“Yeah, but mate, you read,” Sirius dismissed him quickly.

“And so does Lily,” continued Remus.

James interrupted, “But what…”

“Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, I would like to remind you that I have no qualms taking points from my own house if I have to. You will work in silence for the rest of the lesson unless you wish to lose five points each.”

…

Lily was still so fuming about Potter as she walked into History of Magic that she hardly even batted an eye when Professor Binns chose to float through the wall directly next to the door rather than deign to use the door itself.

The old ghost’s lesson was rather boring but she took notes and only rolled her eyes once when she noticed Potter and Black playing hangman instead. Soon the day and the end of her first week at Hogwarts would be over. Lily was glad. Hogwarts was like a home away from home, she wasn’t a freak here, but she missed her family’s little cottage in Cokeworth more than she could say.

…

At dinner, the Gryffindor girls were sitting near the boys but were thankfully being left alone. The Great Hall was filled with the lively chatter – and numerous complaints about homework – of students ready for the weekend after a long first week back. Lily and her new friends laughed about nothing in particular as they hungrily devoured the steaming lasagne followed by apple crumble with custard. One thing at Hogwarts that wasn’t too different from the muggle world was food, something Lily thought she would be eternally grateful for.

“So, what happened in Transfiguration today?” Dorcas looked curious.

“Huh?” she asked unintelligibly around a big mouthful of crumble.

“Between you and James. What was the argument yesterday,” she pressed insistently.

“Oh that. He was a being a prat so I told him so and then I told him that one day his head would detach and float off into space because his ego was so inflated,” Lily explained simply.

Marlene, Alice, Dorcas and Mary burst into laughter.

“Ssssshhhh,” Lily begged, “I don’t want Potter to know what we’re laughing about.”

The laughter petered out slowly into the occasional giggle.

“That’s priceless! You know that right, Lily?” exclaimed Alice.

She nodded smiling slightly.

“What did James say back?” Marlene wanted to know.

“Nothing. He flew away and then came back to crash into the tail of my broom. I almost fell off.”

“He didn’t!” Mary gasped.

“But you didn’t fall. Proves you’re a better flyer than him any day,” proclaimed Alice triumphantly.

Just then the Hogwarts Ghosts swooped down from the enchanted ceiling making the floating candles flicker. Nearly Headless Nick glided to a stop right next to Lily and she had to stop herself from shuddering slightly.

“How’s everyone’s first week been?” he asked the first years.

Everyone else shrugged in response but Lily actually had a question she’d been waiting to ask him all week. She didn’t think any of her friends would actually give a useful answer and Professor McGonagall was still mildly terrifying.

“Hi Sir Nicholas, can you answer me something?”

“It’s not ‘can you show us your nearly severed head hanging by just a bit of skin and showing lots of splintered bone and blood?’ is it?”

“No, I was just wondering if you could explain why Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and especially Gryffindor all seem to hate Slytherin?”

That caught all the first years’ attention, even Potter and Black’s little gang. Lily could see that Nick was quite gratified by the attention he was getting.

“Yes well. It all started with the four founders of Hogwarts. Salazar Slytherin thought that the school should only be open to students with purely magical ancestry but the others believed that anyone magical should be able to come and learn here so Salazar left and the rivalry began.

“This belief in pure-blood supremacy is still held by many of the wizarding population today and most of them were Slytherins while at school here. Now comes the presumption by almost everyone else that all Slytherins hold this belief which is incorrect. All the houses uphold different characteristics as the most important and Slytherin is meant to stand for resourcefulness or ambition for example, not an out-dated ideology believed only by the old ‘pure-blood’ families. Personally, I believe you should strive to have all of the characteristics even as some are naturally stronger in you than others.

“So, the ancient rivalry has continued, led by those who fight for muggle-born and muggle rights. And, I think also because the houses think they’re meant to dislike Slytherins just because everyone always has. If you look at Quidditch matches, between any other houses the matches are competitive but still relatively friendly but never against Slytherin. If you think the Slytherins don’t like you then that’s probably because they’re often classed as the outsiders first.

“Recently, the belief in pure-blood supremacy has been growing stronger again, there’s even a movement for it, quite a radical one at that. It’s led by an unknown wizard, at least by most people, and few names are known. The group’s associated with dark magic too and there were even a couple of attacks on muggle-borns this summer, thankfully no one died. The Ministry’s doing what they can but they’re pretty useless if you ask me. I’m sure Dumbledore has his suspicions though.

“Dark magic is another thing. Most of the well-known dark wizards in Britain’s history have been Slytherins. The house’s reputation has been created only by a few but is shouldered by all. There is increasing conflict at the moment between wizards with these strong opposing beliefs and I’ve been dead long enough to have a hunch that it’s only going to get worse.

“Unfortunately, yes, many Slytherins do hold views that you may find abhorrent but you must be careful not to believe that all Slytherins are like that or are inherently evil. Miss Evans, I know you are muggle-born and I advise you to be cautious but that advice would be well heeded by all you here,” Nick looked around gravely at the rapt students, not only first-years were listening now.

“One day you might find yourself in need of a friend you spurned long ago because of an old prejudice, you might find yourself a hypocrite. Judge every individual on their merits and failings alone, no one is the way you think they are. Facing adversity is so much easier when united against it, even if you must join forces with an unlikely ally. You would all do well to remember that.”

 


	5. Confrontation

BANG! The pack of Exploding Snap blew up again. Even though it was the third round, Lily still couldn’t help but flinch every time. It was Saturday night and so far, she had lost all the games but now she was hopefully getting the hang of it the others had better watch out. At least after they all stopped laughing at her for the trillionth time.

“What?” she asked, “Exploding Snap cannot be this funny.”

“No, but your reaction to it is,” Marlene was rolling around on the floor of their dorm.

“And not just to this. To everything magical,” Alice added with twinkling eyes.

“What about your weird friend in Slytherin? Didn’t he tell you about Exploding Snap?” Mary joined the fun.

“Sev isn’t weird,” Lily defended her best friend hotly.

“You gotta admit Lily, he’s a bit creepy,” insisted Dorcas.

“No, I don’t. And weren’t you listening to Nick yesterday? Give him a chance,” she pleaded.

“Ok,” Marlene agreed grudgingly, “but he’s gotta wash his hair first.”

Lily glared at her.

…

James and Sirius were already late to detention and it was hardly even nine on a Sunday morning. Apparently gifting Peeves a pot of ink when he asks for one was a punishable offence at Hogwarts. Even more irritating than being at school for only a week and already having detention was that Filch, the school caretaker, was going to be supervising them. James honestly thought that three hours with Filch was a worse punishment than cleaning up the trophy room was going to be. At least they hadn’t lost any house points.

“Hurry up mate, we’re going to be late,” Sirius called over his shoulder.

“We’re already late,” James pointed out as started towards the entrance of the courtyard, “but if we cut through here we’d be less late.”

“No way,” Sirius pointed to the dismally grey sky, “there’s no way I’m going out there when a downpour’s starting any second.”

“But…”

“NO! Think of my hair James, think of my hair and don’t make me do that!” (James swore that Sirius cared more about his hair than all the girls at Hogwarts combined, he didn’t have the slightest idea why though) he caught hold of James’ sleeve and began dragging him quickly down the corridor that looped the courtyard, “Come on, sprint you great heffalump, we don’t have much time unless you want another hour added to the torture already waiting!”

James gave up protesting and sprinted after his friend … right into Lily and Snape, knocking their books to the ground as they went.

Skidding to a stop around the next corner, he tried to turn back to apologise and help pick up the heavy books. But Sirius grabbed his sleeve again and continued pulling him in the opposite direction.

“Hey! Let me go. We should go back.”

“Nope. We’re late – not that I care obviously – while Little Miss Teachers’ Pet and that slimy git are off on an un-understandably voluntary trip to the library, otherwise known as the deepest, darkest depths of hell.”

He rolled his eyes at his melodramatic mate, “Don’t call them that.”

“Why do you care?”

James suddenly felt self-conscious, he didn’t know why he cared. Perhaps because Snape was friends with Lily and he wasn’t, but he wanted to be so much. He couldn’t say that to Sirius though, besides Lily obviously didn’t want to be friends so maybe he should stop trying so hard, “I don’t.”

“Good. Last one to the trophy room has to carry the other’s bag the whole of tomorrow,” Sirius turned on his heel and fled before James realised what he said and sprinted after him.

…

Severus glared at the retreating backs of Potter and Black. They didn’t look back once. What was it about being popular without even trying that made people arrogant and attention-seeking. Or was that just the definition of people who were easily liked and admired by others and wasn’t it just so unfair that no one who was actually a decent person was well liked (Lily excluded of course). Also, how on earth did everyone already know their names? They’d all only been at school a week for Merlin’s sake! Even Severus’ own dorm-mates had barely glanced at him twice.

“Come on Sev, we have Potions homework,” Lily’s quiet voice interrupted his internal tirade, “those morons aren’t worth wasting time over.”

He bent down to pass her the books she’d dropped and smiled. Lily was his only friend but he thought that as long as she was, everything would be alright.

…

Severus and Lily decided, unlike Potter and Black, that the weather would probably hold for another minute as they hastily crossed the courtyard.

They would have been right if only the entrance to the covered corridor on the opposite side wasn’t suddenly blocked by a group of sixth and seventh years. Severus swallowed nervously as he recognised Lucius Malfoy, one of Slytherin’s seventh year prefects.

“Looks as if the rumours were true after all,” Narcissa Black exclaimed mockingly, “one of our own is mistakenly wasting his time with a nasty little magic-stealing mudblood.”

Lily shrank back under the scornful glares but didn’t look away. Severus would have been proud of her courage if it didn’t hurt so much that she probably didn’t even know just how offensive the insult was.

“Don’t call her that,” he didn’t particularly want to make enemies of students he had no chance of defending himself against but years of experience had taught him that this was yet another situation that he was powerless to prevent. Hogwarts was meant to be safe, a chance to grow and learn how to use his own power but how could he when after only a week someone new was about to put another leash on his independence.

The smart thing to do would be to say nothing, to cooperate. But this was Lily and he’d never abandon her. She was too innocent, too pure. Perhaps not magically but in a completely good and uncorrupted way. Severus would never understand some of the things that hurt her but he would protect her from everything he did. It was why he hadn’t told her the ugly truths about the Wizarding World before, about the growing movements and groups that were anti-muggleborn. He’d wanted to keep the pain of discrimination she’d surely experience at their hands from her for as long as possible. It seemed that opinions even within Hogwarts were stronger than he’d realised.

“Why not?” demanded one of the other boys, “it’s what she is.”

“Quiet. Now Snape, I think you might find it… beneficial to walk away. We won’t hold it against you for being young, misguided and so obviously under her spell against your will but the next time you’re found together we won’t be quite so lenient,” Lucius sounded impossibly condescending.

“Besides if you’re going to sneak around with girls, don’t pick one with carrot-coloured hair,” added Narcissa spitefully.

Severus bristled again in indignation on Lily’s behalf. He thought her deep red hair was the most beautiful thing about her other than her eyes. But now he saw that Lily was glaring back at the older girl, apparently she was much more familiar with this brand of insults. Her hand was in her pocket, probably fisted around her wand. He desperately hoped she wouldn’t do anything to provoke them. They were so out of their depth, they might as well be standing on the bed of the Great Lake, without a Bubble-Head Charm and with half a dozen merpeople jabbing at them with tridents.

Lily’s voice was quiet but defiant, “Excuse me, but Sev and I were just on our way to the library to do our Potions homework. Unless prefects are allowed to take points for students from different houses studying together would you kindly let us be on our way and then we could also be out of yours,” then she looked directly at Narcissa, “at least my hair is naturally red. Your blonde is so clearly out of a bottle you might as well have dunked your entire head into a cauldron of Doxy venom. And by the way, the dye doesn’t seem to mix well with that Sleekeazy’s you added, it’s just starting to frizz a little… about here,” she indicated with her hands.

Narcissa hurriedly stepped back into the archway, out of the drizzle that had started a few minutes earlier. Severus noted the two boys standing at the back smirking but he himself couldn’t help but gape at Lily. He’d never heard such innocent sounding yet thinly-veiled sarcasm delivered so politely.

Lucius it seemed was the only one not left dumbstruck by the sudden outburst and he soon came to Narcissa’s defence, snarling, “Shut up mudblood! You have no right to talk to those of the Sacred Twenty-Eight like that. You who has stolen your magic while we come from some of the longest lines of magical lineage there are!”

“What do you mean stolen magic? I haven’t stolen any magic,” Lily looked almost on the verge of tears. Sev didn’t know if from fear, panic or anger. Probably a mixture of both as the severity of the situation was sinking in.

The group formed a circle around them, wands out, there was no way to run and for all the bravado with which he’d thought about protecting Lily, he was well aware of his own weaknesses. That he would avoid conflict at all costs unless he was certain he had the upper hand. He didn’t particularly think of himself as a coward but he’d always rather talk himself out of any potential fights. In this moment, he saw for the first time just how well suited each of them were to their own houses.

“Don’t lie to us! We know the truth. Now help yourself and don’t interrupt as we talk to your little friend here.”

“Come on Severus. You’ve heard about the attacks over the summer, you know what could happen. Do yourself a favour, spare yourself the pain. Walk away. If you stay and try to protect her we’ll make it worse for her. We’ll make you watch, completely helpless, and then we’ll do the same to you. Is all of that really worth being branded a blood traitor. What have muggles ever done for you? And are their filthy offspring really so much better? Why are you hesitating Snape? This isn’t your fight, walk away. Maybe we’ll even help you get some more of that power you so clearly crave? All you have to do is walk away,” Narcissa could spin a pretty tale.

Lily looked scared now. Neither of the first years knew any useful magic and the vindictive looks in five surrounding pairs of eyes proved just how serious they were.

“Sev! NO!” Lily cried out, “just go. I don’t mind. GO!...”

But then a hand was clamped over her mouth, muffling her shouts.

Severus could feel his face burning. With anger as they threatened Lily, the girl he was still standing here indecisively for, but mostly with shame as what they said was the truth. Shame because if it wasn’t Lily here he would walk away, he knew he would. Shame because he agreed that muggles just weren’t worth it. His father had abused him and his mother for years and it was his dearest wish to be able to return that pain upon him one day. It wasn’t dark magic exactly that he was interested in, not what they were being threatened with, because most magic could be turned dark with bad intentions. Severus knew he wanted power, not to use necessarily but to have and for others to know he could use it if he wanted. But more than that, he valued and longed for friendship. Lily’s and others’ too. For that was a whole different kind of power in itself. A positive kind. And though he often lost sight of that as he didn’t think himself a particularly good person, he remembered it now.

Severus knew he had to say something, he pushed aside his shame, as he knew this was all for Lily and Lily alone that he was doing this, and focused on anger, “I’m not a blood traitor. That would be my mother and you’re right, my father had done nothing for me…”

“Petrificus Totalus! Expelliarmus! Impedimenta! “

Instinctively he ducked. But the spells weren’t coming from Malfoy or Narcissa of the other Slytherins. They were coming from across the courtyard, fired at speed, one straight after the other.

He was suddenly dragged out of the rain into the corridor along with Lily. She grabbed his hand and they stared wordlessly up at the Head Girl who’d just saved them from Merlin knows what. Andromeda Black looked them up and down, “You hurt?”

They shook their heads hurriedly. She dragged a hand through her hair and stared frustratedly out at bodies in various frozen positions being drenched by the downpour, “Ugh! I knew I shouldn’t have left Cissy alone with Bella so much this summer!”

Still they said nothing. Sev stared at the floor, unable to meet Lily’s eyes.

“You’ll make a good Slytherin I think,” decided Andromeda as she looked at him critically.

“You don’t even know what I was going to do. _I_ don’t even know if I was going to walk away!” he protested.

Lily squeezed his hand, a silent assurance that it was ok and she understood. Sev didn’t deserve it, he didn’t deserve her. He didn’t know if he would have left her or what would have happened if he did, only that it would’ve been bad and his actions unforgivable.

Perhaps he was too young, being only eleven after all, to truly understand this whole mess that the Ministry were too blind to see growing but his childhood hadn’t been much of a childhood and it had made him grow up quickly. He’d learnt to expect the worst of people meaning he was never surprised and he was often well aware of consequences.

But he would do anything for Lily, he knew he would. She was often what he saw as the only good in his life and he wanted to keep that forever. He could see though that to keep that safe for both of them he would have to play along with the old pure-blood beliefs. Not that they repulsed him but to keep both he would learn to spin a web of lies.

“I don’t need to know your answer. It doesn’t matter now. Only what your choices in the future are. Learn from today and I’ll give the others’ a week’s worth of detentions and take ten points apiece. Lily, I would advise you don’t go anywhere alone for now. Why don’t you skip the library and go dry yourselves off?” Andromeda spoke with almost as much authority as a professor.

…

Lily still felt shaken from the when she sat down for lunch the next day, she didn’t know what might have happened but Sev’s face said it wouldn’t have been a pretty picture. Honestly, she was still confused about some of it.

She’d gone back to the Gryffindor tower to find dry clothes but Sev hadn’t gone back to his dorm, instead choosing to continue on to the library. He’d been muttering something about oclimemsy she thought. She tried catching his eye across the hall but he avoided her gaze. He was very frustrating when something was bothering him.

Just then Potter and Black entered noisily with Remus and Peter trailing a little way behind. Lily was waiting for Marlene and the others to arrive so she watched the boys warily. Unfortunately, they didn’t sit at the other end of the table like she’d hoped and their shouts rang in her ears.

“How many bloody books do you have in here, mate? If we’d sat down a moment later my shoulder would have dropped off!” grumble Sirius.

“I dunno. Maybe you could count them for me, I’m sure I would appreciate it just as much as you offering to carry my bag for me today!” Potter returned brightly.

“It was a _bet_ not an offer and you _cheated_!”

“More like I didn’t have three Pumpkin Pasties for breakfast and could actually lift up my feet to run!”

Sirius gasped in exaggerated outrage and proceeded to tip the contents of Potter’s bag into his lap.

“OI!”

Lily stopped paying attention to their racket and waited impatiently – it had been bothering her all day – for Marlene to sit down before urgently asking, “What’s a mudblood?”

Marlene froze, midway through her greeting and openly gaped at Lily. She didn’t know what she’d said wrong. Even Alice looked about ready to ask her how she didn’t know about yet something else. She knew this was a lot more serious than Exploding Snap though. Apparently Sev’s Magical Crash Course had a few glaringly obvious and crucial gaps in it and her old world had left her completely unprepared.

Dorcas and Mary said nothing too. All the Gryffindor first years were stunned into silence (including Sirius), staring at Lily as she fidgeted awkwardly on her seat. She knew she was the only muggle-born among them and also she wasn’t yet fully aware how significant that was.

Finally, Potter broke the silence, running a hand through his untameable hair as he did so. He looked furious, “Who called you a mudblood, Lily?”


End file.
